Best of

the Twin Cities

BEST WINGS

Girvan Grille

The thing with wings is that they're actually about a different part of the anatomy: cojones. Those who indulge in the spiciest ones say that, in doing so, they experience a certain euphoria, likely due to a testosterone surge spurred by defeating something life-threatening. The best local spot for testing your hot-wing mettle is Girvan Grille, in a castle-like structure at the Edinburgh Golf Course in Brooklyn Park. It looks as if it might have a cemetery out back for disposing of those who lose the Ghost Wing Challenge, which requires eating 10 wings in 15 minutes without drinking or eating anything else. The sauce on these Ghost Wings is made with the bhut jolokia, or ghost pepper, whose sky-high Scoville rating ranks it the hottest chile on the planet. The things are seriously dangerous: India's defense department is developing ghost-pepper-based hand grenades to control rioters. The surprising thing about Girvan's wings is their complexity of flavor, as most extremely spicy dishes tend to lack nuance. The sauce at first tastes a little woodsy, then slightly fruity, with hints of campfire and paprika. After those blissful few seconds, though, the ghost pepper begins its scary crescendo, blazing past the lips and mouth before settling in the stomach. You might chug water, pound a beer, or down a ramekin of ranch dressing, but it won't do much to ease the pain. You just ate an ingredient in hand grenades, remember?